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SARAH J. A.4 HUSSEY, OF

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OORNWALL, NEW YORK.

IMPROVED TABLE FORHOSPITALS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 117,831, dated May 23,1865.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, SARAH J. A. HUssEY, of Oornwall, inthe county or"Orange and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Combined Table and Head and Foot Rest; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full and exact description thereof, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

In large army hospitals, where the sick soldiers often have no furniturebut the bed, many of the patients suffer unnecessary bodily pain fromthe want of a suitable head and foot rest, and are subjected to manyinconveniences from the want of a table directly over the bed. Aiterlongexperience as nurse in the United States army hospitals I have inventeda cheap and easily-portable contrivance to meet all these wants in asingle article ot' furniture, and at the same time to furnish abook-holder and other conveniences.

My invention consists of a peculiar adjustable head and footrest,combined with an adjustable table, and also in a drawerbook-holder.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure, l is a perspective view of mycombined head and foot rest and table with drawer in place. Figs. 2 and3 are sections through the drawer detached from the table, Fig. 2showing the inside of the front of the drawer, and Fig. 3 a section ofthe drawer from front to rear.

In the construction of my table combined with a head and foot rest Iemploy two upright standards, A andB, supported on suitable pedestals Cand D. These pedestals may be connected by a bar, O, or the standardsmay be held steady by other suitable means, as a cross-foot, braces, orknees, or other means. The standards are placed far enough apart toenable the table to stand astride of the bed. Upon these standards arearranged a table, E, a head-rest, F, and a foot-rest, G and G', allbeing adjustable up or down on the standards and supported on pins inthe holes a and b. The table is provided with a drawer, H, a turningshelf, I, and a tumbler-holder, K, also a checkerboard, L, (and, ifdesired, a folding` leaf,) or other conveniences. In the drawer of thetable is arranged a book-holder. (Shown in Figs.2 and 3.\ Thisbook-holder consists of a book-rest, N l

in the front part of the drawer, and two iingers, M, turning uponpivots, to fasten open the book.

The operation of the book-holder is as follows: The drawer being partway open, the book is opened and set into the front of the drawer, so asto rest on the shoulder or bookrest N, while the upper end of the bookfalls back upon the front edge ofthe table. Then the iin ger M Ml areturned so as to bear upon the leaves of the book near the outer corner,in order to hold the book open. When the book-holder is-not in use, M M'are turned down into the drawer, so the latter may be be pushed homeunder the table.

The head-rest may consist of a good piece of girthing, F, provided witha strap, f, and buckle and two suitable slidlng clasps, F', capable ofbeing raised or lowered upon the standards. The foot-rest may be anarrow bar, G', and two drooping bands or loops, G', to receive the feetof the patient.

Both the head-rest and foot-rest may be lowered so as to be used whenthe patient is sitting on a chair, (the standards being removed from thebed.) The head or feet, when Aresting on my contrivances, may be swungsomewhat to and fro, and thus afford peculiar relief from the motion andmuscular exercise as well as from the position ot' the head or feet.

I do not broadly claim the separate devices above described, but Ibelieve the-table, headrest, and foot-rest, supported on standards andplaced in front ot' the patient when in bed, are all new, as well as thepeculiar bookholder 5 and I do not confine myself to the precise formand dimensions above specified, as the details of construction may besomewhat varied without departing from my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what l claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. rlhe above-described adjustable table,

in combination with the head-rest, substantially as set forth.

2. The foot-rest and drawer book-holder, in combination with the table,as speciiied. SARAH-J. A. HUSSEY. vIlVitnesses:

GEO. HowLAND, Jr., SYLvIA G. HowLAND.

